Mark P. Robinson Jr.

From the $128 million verdict in the seminal Ford Pinto case in 1978 to the only federal Vioxx verdict, $51 million in New Orleans in 2006, he has been terrifying giant corporations with his kind smile and obsessive work habits for years. Last year, he was part of the plaintiffs committee hammering out the $4.85 billion deal with Vioxx maker Merck. Next year, he’ll explain to the state Supreme Court how California’s unfair competition law applies to tobacco litigation. He also pushed for a law school at UC Irvine and gave the nascent institution $1 million of his own money.